LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 4/6 Bellarmine Knights shot nearly 61 percent from the field as they raced past the Kentucky State Thorobreds 93-75 tonight in the first day of the Bellarmine Classic at Knights Hall.
 
Bellarmine exploded to a 37-point lead at the 10:47 mark of the second half and coasted home for the 18-point victory.
 
Adam Eberhard led four Knights in double figures with 14 points converting five of six field goals and all four of his free throws.  Tyler Jenkins added 11 for Bellarmine with Rusty Troutman and Ben Weyer chipping in 10 apiece.

"The first 28 minutes, we were extraordinary," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "You give Kentucky State credit because they played until the horn. They never stopped."

Bellarmine led 51-33 at the break, and then blew the game open in first nine-plus minutes of the second half to lead 81-44 at the 10:47 mark.

Davenport said senior leadership was the reason for the second half start. "I went in (the locker room at halftime)," Davenport said, "and was looking at the stats and the breakdown of the first half, and all our players were talking about was eliminating the offensive rebounds. When you get out to a lead like that, the only way a team makes a run is offensive rebound or hit threes. We eliminated those in the first 10 minutes, and we blew the game out. But that came from them. That comes with leadership.  That's Rusty (Troutman) and Al (Davis) and GK (George Knott)."

Twelve of the Knights' 14 players hit the scoring column, including Daniel Ramser, who made his first appearance of the year after suffering a concussion during the exhibition season. 

Bellarmine enjoyed a 37-26 rebounding advantage, and did it as a group with 13 different players pulling down at least one. Alex Cook was the game's leading rebounder with five on the night.

The Knights finished 28 of 46 from the field (60.9 percent) and totaled 21 assists on the night, led by senior Al Davis with six.

Malcom Smith paced Kentucky State (2-7) with a game-high 18 points. As a team, the Thorobreds shot 43.8 percent from the field.

Bellarmine extends its record to 9-1 with its ninth straight victory and lengthened its home winning streak to 31 games.

The Knights return to action tomorrow night as they take on Martin Methodist, who lost 100-62 to Southern Indiana in game one of the Bellarmine Classic. 

Davenport warned the large deficit was not indicative of the Martin Methodist team they face tomorrow. "Their best player had three fouls the first two minutes and then doesn't play the whole first half," Davenport said. "They have two kids who have both had 30-point nights, and your risk is they could both go off in one night and now you're in trouble."

Southern Indiana and Kentucky State will square off in the first game tomorrow at 5 p.m. with Bellarmine and Martin Methodist tipping at 7:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE (HTM)